Fit IV Life
Ua Neej Nrog Gym (Living the Gym Life)
Overview
Fit IV Life is a small, community gym that is located in St. Paul, Minnesota that opened in 2019 to cater to the Hmong population. Being a small, family owned gym was be a struggle, especially when they couldn’t control when and how many members left.
Through multiple research methods, I dug deep into the feelings and unspoken experiences of members to discover what I could do to help alleviate them by rearranging the gym equipment in hopes that it helped with keeping member retention and avoid the possibility of current members feeling uncomfortable.
My Role:
UX/UI Designer and Researcher
Tools:
Figjam
Excalidraw
Google Sheets
Cardboard
Scissors & Glue
Keynote
Methods:
Stakeholder Interview
Competitive Audit
User Interviews
Graffiti Walls
Love/Break Up Letters
Speed Dating
Wireframing
Prototyping
Deliverables:
Key Findings Report
Physical Prototype
Slide Deck Presentation
Primary Users:
Fit IV Life members
The Journey
Problem:
As a family-owned business, the gym owner was concerned with the amount of members cancelling their membership. However, after the research was conducted, the problem shifted from focusing on driving in new members to focusing on how the gym can be changed to alleviate feelings of overcrowding and uncomfortability.
Solution:
To make sure that when all members (females, males, non-binary, etc) come to the gym, they are welcomed with the feeling of family, community, and ease so that members can continue to attend their gym sessions without feeling intimidated.
Stakeholder Goals
As a frequent gym-goer and friend of the stakeholder, I sat down and conducted an in-person interview with him surrounding his goals on why he decided to open his gym. He presented a lot of insight on who he wanted to target, why he wanted to target, and what concerns he had surrounding the upkeep of the facility.
In the interview I discovered:
He wanted to target the Hmong community specifically
He wanted to create a space for them to feel comfortable and enjoyable that everyone can relate to
His biggest concern was the amount of people leaving the facility
As a business owner, he’s always trying new ways to promote the facility to drive in new & more members
His goal in the future is to move to a bigger space to allow more people
The Discovery
I conducted a competitive analysis on Fit IV Life to other big, commercial gyms such as Lifetime Fitness and LA Fitness to understand what was missing from Fit IV Life’s amenities and see why users were so drawn to these bigger gyms. It was obvious that the bigger the space, the more services could be provided for members to use. Fit IV Life definitely couldn’t compare when it came to luxury experiences.
Research Methods
User interviews were conducted in order to see through the lens of members and scope out their thoughts and feelings toward the gym.
The graffiti walls method was also used as another research method to get anonymous user feedback because when users are at the gym, they have one goal and that is to get their workout in and leave. So this was a valuable way to get fast and willing participatory feedback.
Love letters and break up letters were also used to pin point any changes in user sentiments toward the gym.
Synthesizing
After conducting the user research, the data was synthesized to pull out the main user pain points that were expressed in order to come to a solution. The main user pain points were as follows:
1: Users expressed the gym was too small but tolerable.
2: Users said the gym could become overcrowded during peak hours around 3PM - 7PM.
3: To alleviate the overcrowding, users suggested to move the treadmills from the main gym area to the front of the buildings where there were windows to maximize the main gym space better for new equipment or more space between equipment.
4: Female identified members expressed feeling uncomfortable in the squat rack area.
Mapping the Area
To get a visual representation of the space, I mapped out the area to help compare it to the wireframe that was created in response to the user research that was found.
Comparing both visually, a lot of the equipment was moved around to
minimize the feelings of unease from the female identified members.
They were also moved around to better maximize the main gym area by:
putting all the upper body equipment together in the same area
the lower body equipment together
the cardio machines together.
Prototyping
Once the wire framing was done, I built the prototype with glue and paper at a scaled size to reflect the research that was found from the participants and the anonymous feedback. This was my favorite part as it was a much different approach than from creating an electronic product through Figma.
Evaluation Process
After the prototype was built, I conducted a speed dating evaluation round with two members with scenarios that were then used to find out what users thought about the new equipment rearrangement in the prototype. Only two members were used because I was short on time and had difficulty pulling willing members to help with the evaluation round at the gym.
Both users reported:
1: They preferred the prototype to the current set up.
2: Liked how it allowed for more room in the main gym area.
3: Liked that the cardio machines were in the front of the room to allow for a different view of the outdoors.
Only one user expressed:
1: Putting the treadmills in the front of the building could be vulnerable for members who like to workout early in the morning when it’s still dark.
Presenting
I was given the opportunity and presented my findings to an audience at Prime Digital Academy on how I found a solution to Fit IV Life’s problem. This was a fulfilling experience as I went in feeling very anxious. However, no matter how I performed, I allowed myself to enjoy the feeling of relief and victory as I stepped away from the podium.
Conclusion
What’s Next
The owner of the gym watched me conduct all of my research and have seen my prototype. After learning about the problem, he wanted to address the issue as soon as possible and is currently looking for volunteers to help move the machines around in order to minimize this experience for the female identified members and make sure the space is safe and comfortable for all.
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed researching about this since fitness was a very important, healing journey in my life and being able to help my community as much as I could was fulfilling. This taught me that UX didn’t need to only fall within the confines of digital products - it could be used anywhere and with anyone at any given moment. That’s what’s so special about UX and why I think research is definitely something I want to get better at.